Week 7 - The Swamp Marches on to Ides

Just a brief post today as I don't expect to get any more done before tomorrows usual post. The bases are done! About time right? With 2 weeks to go to Ides I officially have enough points painted and based. I would like to get 2 more Gatormen painted just to max out the second unit but it isn't a big deal. So on to some group shots for you. Something that doesn't come through in the photos is the swamp effect. I managed to get leaves both under and on top of the 'water,' this adds some cool depth effect to the bases. I'm really happy with how they came out, but before I do a tutorial on them I want to wait and see how the clear resin behaves. I'm concerned it will yellow over time, which wont effect my bases too badly, but will look horrible if used for snow bases etc. I did much prefer using it compared to the Secret Weapon Water Effects though, so we will just have to wait and see.

The first unit of Gators and the Wrastler.

My 3 caster options, Bull Snapper, Bone Swarm and Pendrake.

Swamp Horror and the second unit of Gators, 2 more to come...

Solos and the Swamp Gobbers.

The whole group.

So what is left for the Gators? Well, I have parts on the way from PP which will let me max out my third unit of Gators. That leaves me with 7 gators to paint, 4 Bone Grinders (For Calibans Tier), Ironback Spitter, second Bull Snapper, Totem Hunter and Croak Hunter. (Who is waiting on that parts order as well...) Pic below.

Ignore the painted Croak Hunter on the left, he is done.

I have a busy couple of weekends ahead of me so I'm not expecting much progress. Hopefully I can get those 2 Gators done tomorrow so I can base them during the week. I may also adjust the colour pallet on the Bone Grinders, as this is a fairly small job, so that they fit with the rest of the faction. Then I need to focus on the tray for Ides. I also need more points to play 50 point games, So I expect to have to squeeze in the third Gators unit before the end of the month. Ideally I will finish all the models in the above photo. That may be wishful thinking though.

As for finishing Blindwater? Well I need Rask and a unit of Bog Trogg Ambushers. By then PP will have released the new Gargantuans book, and I will know what else is in store for my swampy friends. (Like the Bog Trogg Zombies!) Here is hoping I can finish off most of the ones I own before then though.

The stats:

Day 47
77/47 Painted/Days passed
77/366 Painted/Target (21.0%)
23/39 Blindwater Congregation (59.0%)
43/51 Dreadball (84.3%)
5/89 Forge Fathers (5.6%)
6/104 Corporation Marines (5.8%)
0/102 Veer-myn (0.0%)
0/8 Khador (0.0%)
0/35 Protectorate of Menoth (0.0%)
0/15 Malifaux - Kirai Crew (0.0%)
0/6 Mercs - Kezai Wazza (0.0%)
0/6 Infinity - Haqqislam (0.0%)
0/21 Death Korps of Krieg (0.0%)
With more to come...

Week 6 - Time for basing!

So here we are in the middle of Sunday. This should be a good reliable time to do future blog posts, short of tournaments and demo games... On to the progress!

Wednesday being Waitangi day (a public holiday in NZ) I managed to get some serious painting done. I am still behind but there is always this afternoon isn't there? For your viewing pleasure we have Caliban, Pendrake and a Swamp Horror all finished up and waiting for basing.

Finally finished! A third caster for the Blindwater Congregation.

Adding a little class and manners to the swamp hordes...

That's right, star fields on the lenses. Because massive conversions weren't enough...

This means I have enough painted for my two 42 points lists for Ides next month. I do have to get the bases finished though. This will be the focus of next week, meaning I plan on doing very little actual painting. I have got 2 more gator possie to repaint, giving me two max units as options. These will hopefully take a lot less time to do now that the paint scheme is well practised.

Green and brown... so common and bland.

This will just about round out my Blindwater until my next tournament. To get these guys 100% complete I still have an Ironback Spitter, Bull Snapper, 5 Gatormen Possie and a Croak Hunter to go. I may expand the force a little in a few months with Rask and Bog Trog Ambushers but that is a while away yet... Next week will hopefully see a group shot of all the gators based and ready for action.

In other news I will be preparing some Warpath models for demos at the club. I plan on having each of the 1 player starter sets painted and playable (I already have enough for most of them, only short 12 or so Marauders...) as the Warpath kickstarter looms on the horizon. Conveniently I have started several of the models in the last few weeks and have already assembled most of what I need anyway.

At the same time I need to crank out two Warmachine battleboxes for demoing from April onwards. Looks like Khador and Cryx are the likely candidates as I still have conversion work to do on my Menoth. Oh and the possibility of an overseas work trip in there somewhere. Which usually means 2 weekends of travel, and at least a week of no painting... I will do some other kind of post while I am there probably a tutorial if I have some photos prepared before I go...


The stats:

Day 41
77/41 Painted/Days passed
77/366 Painted/Target (21.0%)
23/39 Blindwater Congregation (59.0%)
43/51 Dreadball (84.3%)
5/89 Forge Fathers (5.6%)
6/104 Corporation Marines (5.8%)
0/102 Veer-myn (0.0%)
0/8 Khador (0.0%)
0/35 Protectorate of Menoth (0.0%)
0/15 Malifaux - Kirai Crew (0.0%)
0/6 Mercs - Kezai Wazza (0.0%)
0/6 Infinity - Haqqislam (0.0%)
0/21 Death Korps of Krieg (0.0%)
With more to come...


Disclaimer on the stats, as I reorganize my stuff I find and lose models, the unpainted model counts are approximate as a result. Once I complete groups and can shelve things away properly I will update the totals. This means some weeks will have higher or lower totals as I find/lose/buy/sell things and percentages will be a little off as a result. I also occasionally need to recount the painted total, as sometimes the individual counts are more/less than the total...

Week 5 - Time Running Out for Ides

Well another week down and more models painted. This week marks 4 weeks until my first tournament of the year, Ides of March. The big challenge here is getting all my Gators painted, or at least enough to actually compete! I have drafted out a couple lists which I need to practice and hopefully minimise models still needed. Play-testing will invariably change them but I will just have to make do.

This week sees the two Witch Doctors finally get finished. As always bases will be done later, but I'm rapidly running out of later!

I also took some time to get five more Corporation Marines painted. It is really surprising how little time these guys take compared to the Gators, I spent approximately 13 hours painting both of the Witch Doctors but only 4 hours on five Marines...

So that makes 7 more completed this week, keeping me up to pace. Those of you who are astute will notice no word on Caliban... Well he has progressed since you last saw him but is still not complete. He is moved (again) for completion this week along with Victor Pendrake (painted a bit this week as well) and the Swamp Horror, whom I have just finished converting.

Caliban, Slow and steady...

Victor, looking a little pale.

Converted Swamp Horror, looking more imposing!

In the interests of pushing the envelope I also have five Forge Father Steel Warriors on my desk, trying to keep ahead of the curve, and the mid-week day off should help. I also need to get to all those bases I keep putting off! So much to do...

I noticed that some of you missed my last post so I will endeavour to post at a more reasonable hour. I may even begin to post more in the middle of the week and I have started work on some other little projects that may require tutorials if there is interest...


The stats:

Day 34
74/34 Painted/Days passed
74/366 Painted/Target (20.2%)
20/39 Blindwater Congregation (51.3%)
43/51 Dreadball (84.3%)
5/89 Forge Fathers (5.6%)
6/104 Corporation Marines (5.8%)
0/102 Veer-myn (0.0%)
0/8 Khador (0.0%)
0/35 Protectorate of Menoth (0.0%)
0/15 Malifaux - Kirai Crew (0.0%)
0/6 Mercs - Kezai Wazza (0.0%)
0/6 Infinity - Haqqislam (0.0%)
0/21 Death Korps of Krieg (0.0%)
With more to come...